Fantasy Football: Week 2 QB rankings

Smith and Mahomes connection extends to Week 2 fantasy QB rankings

By ARTHUR ARKUSH

Sept. 15, 2018

Patrick Mahomes won the AFC's Offensive Player of the Week award in his 4-TD debut as the Chiefs' new starter, a great early reward of the faith Andy Reid and Brett Veach showed through their bold decision to trade Alex Smith after his best season and remove the governor from their new maserati.

It should also be noted that Smith had it working in his D.C. debut, a Cardinals dissection in the desert that rewarded Washington brass for willingly getting older (and trading a young stud corner) in an effort to stabilize the QB room and offense.

And the pair remain closely connected — including in our Week 2 rankings, where both are top-five options, with Smith edging Mahomes because they both get bad defenses but Smith also gets the benefit of playing at home.

It's not by accident that we're suddenly more bullish on Smith than we were in the preseason, when questions lingered over the health of Jordan Reed and Chris Thompson. With those two starring in Washington's 24-6 win over Arizona, Smith must have felt like he was back in Kansas City with his triplets, completing 70 percent of his passes and averaging a robust 8.5 yards per attempt.

But Washington also played dominant defensively, as did the third part of this equation, Minnesota, behind Vikings starter Kirk Cousins, who actually ranked one spot ahead of Smith in Week 1 fantasy QB scoring.

We expect Washington's and Minnesota's 'D' to play well again, with the former getting Andrew Luck in his first road start in forever and the latter getting a limited Aaron Rodgers, if not DeShone Kizer. But the Chiefs could again be without Eric Berry when they visit a seething Steelers club with loads of weaponry — with or without Le'Veon Bell. Mahomes didn't have to press in Week 1, not with Tyreek Hill scoring on a 91-yard kick return and 58-yard catch before Chargers fans could even find their seats and Bolts pass catchers could start, well, catching passes.

What will Mahomes do next? It feels like we'll be asking that very question often this season.